Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Old Fashioned Graham Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine yeast, warm water, salt, and sugar.
Add baking soda and stir in enough Graham flour to create a thick batter that drops easily from a spoon.
Rise and bake
Grease your bread pans and pour in the batter.
Cover and let the dough rise until it is light and fluffy.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Good yeast
- Ferments the batter so it rises and becomes light and airy.
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk structure and the whole-grain flavor of the bread.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the batter to add extra lift and help it rise.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and browning in the crust.
The step that matters
Stirring in the flour to a thick batter. The batter must be thick enough to hold its shape and trap gas from the yeast. If it is too thin, the bread can collapse or turn out dense and heavy.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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